Social Media Funnies: Bikers Get LinkedIn

Speaking of funny...imagine my surprise considering that I am part of a social media website exclusively for bikers ("bikers" in a generic sense of that word, not in a outlaw sense).

http://2wheeltips.com was started as a place for motorcycle enthusiasts who would like to learn more about motorcycle safety, join riding groups, find relevant product info, etc. I know its fun to make fun, but we are people like any other and just because we are on two wheels doesn't mean we are anti-social media lol

Funnily enough, I've started a bikie fan page on Facebook, which I give to other bikers I see at the lights ;) www.facebook.com/Riding4aCause

I am too scared to even contemplate LI properly yet!! I have a profile and many recommendations that I need to respond to...but oh my!! It seems I need to LIVE on line to keep up with it all! Finding a balance between NATURE and NET means slowly but surely....my soul craves real life (as in face to face people contact and the feeling of fresh air :)) a little too much! LOL. I am LOVING getting to know it all though...your comments are all very helpful! Thank you immensely!

CrystalClearBuzz - great tip about timing your LinkedIn activity. For twitter the magic hour is 8:30Am - 9:30 am ET.

& to Larry - I agree that the group activity can be disappointing sometimes - but I find the Q & A that is not inside groups to be a great location for active interested people - LI recently put it under "more" drop down "answers" - for those who don't know this tip. Anyone can ask/answer questions publicly - it can be effective for you, ile helping others

Thanks, Cathy! I was unaware of the More > Answers area. I'm looking at it now. It certainly does look like a good tool for connecting with people.

I encourage everyone I talk to to be active in Groups because they are a powerful tool. There are more than half a million groups. Also, all of the groups are not business related; there are many interest/hobby/general life groups out there ( I have a friend who found a corvette lovers group). These types of groups are great because you get to know those people on a more personal level and build a different level of trust than in the business related groups.

One special tip that I've only shared with my email list before now:

Did you know that there was a "best time" to be active in groups and that the Daily Digest is a powerful tool and not just an annoyance? I've noticed that the Daily Digests begin rolling out around noon EST. If you're the last person to add a discussion item, then the subject line will say that the email message is from you, and the link to your discussion will be on top. As far as the news posts go, they too are listed in order the the most recent on top.

So...the best time to post in your groups is between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. EST. However, it could be later. If you get the Daily Digests, you'll know if it's too late to post that day and you may want to wait until the next. If you don't like them cluttering up your inbox, simply create a rule that sticks them in a separate folder. If you don't get to them that day, just delete 'cause they're already old news.

I use LinkedIn to find people in a certain company or industry, and to keep up with the people in my network.

I find the signal-to-noise ratio to be disappointingly low in a lot of the groups. But that's not universally true, and I'm not ready to give up on the potential of LinkedIn groups as a resource for lively and informative discussions.

I find LinkedIn to be a great place to connect with business people and it can be an effective lead generation tool. If you ask and answer questions in helpful ways in that section of LinkedIn, and are active in the right groups (that your potential clients/customers are in), both in ways that showcase your expertise - this activity gets people to click through and check out your profile.

If your profile is fully set up, you have a few recommendations, and links to your other online sites. And most especially if you use the Apps to pull your blog posts directly into your profile page (in addition to the simple link) - Slideshare is also great for this; this allows potential clients to check you out, and essentially pre-qualify themselves. This has happened to me, and brought me clients.

In other words - if your online footprint/activity supports the information on LinkedIn, and your approach resonates with a prospective client's needs - they will contact you when they are ready to buy. I call it connecting the social media dots - LinkedIn is a great tool in this process.

Nice giggle for a Friday, thanks! I've recently made a intentional decision to spend more time on LinkedIn. With recent improvements, it seems to offer a more robust platform that makes it easier to use. Still not as glamorous as FB or Twitter -- and I still post to my Fan Page/Tweet -- but I'm giving LI a try to target decision-makers more specifically.